Alzheimer’s and your diet: what’s the connection

The world of medicine has known for centuries that many diseases and ailments can be avoided or aided simply by altering one’s diet. The food that you consume is not simply meant to keep you satiated; the vitamins and other goodness present in each morsel are also meant to nourish your body from within.
Alzheimer’s which is a common form of dementia includes symptoms like aggression, mood swings, loss of memory and leads to a slow death. The very thought of having Alzheimer’s and not getting diagnosed at the right time scares many of us because of the nature of the disease. While reducing the brain slowly, it also hampers one’s normal capabilities like the ability to do simple chores or even easy sums. But the good news is that as more studies are being conducted into understanding this disease better, it’s been proven that making small changes to one’s daily diet can help in avoidingAlzheimer’s. Here’s what you need to do:

– Maintaining one’s body weight is important as studies have shown that people who were obese in their middle age were more likely to get Alzheimer’s later.
– Heart clogging food such as junk food and fried food should be kept to a minimum as they have been associated with a higher risk of Alzheimer’s.
– Focus on foods that protect the heart and which boost the brain as well. For instance, dark coloured vegetables have a higher level of antioxidants. Cruciferous vegetables also contain high amounts of vitamins. These vegetables play a role in keeping the brain young. Fruits like blueberries with their high anthocyanin content have been found to protect against Alzheimer’s.
– Increase daily intake of Omega- 3 fatty acids as it has been found to help in preventing cell damage often caused by Alzheimer’s.
– Vitamin D not only boosts overall immunity but has been proven to play a role in protecting brain cells.
– Recent studies show that vitamins like E, B 12 & folate help lower the risk of contracting Alzheimer’s.
– Focus on including foods that have a low GI as they take longer to get digested in the body, besides giving you a bigger helping of all those nutrients.

Playing brain games for even just a few minutes a day also helps keep your brain young for longer. Spend some time solving crosswords, jigsaw puzzles, scrambled words or even in learning a new skill. These small changes can help you ward off a host of mental diseases in your lifetime.